Creating Subscriptions
Creating subscriptions is a simple process within Ad Orbit. Read through this help center document to get the basics. There may be some special cases, such as creating group subscriptions. For more specifics about these cases, read through the other documents in this help center section.
Prior to creating subscriptions, there are a couple of setup items to review.
The first thing to be aware of is making sure your subscription plans are created and ready to be used. Go to Settings > Production > Publication & Issue Setup to manage your subscription plans. Click on the ellipsis for a publication, and choose Subscription Plans. Once you are in the Subscription Plans page you can create all the needed plans for that publication. You only need the Subscription Plan Name, Cost, and the length of the subscription in months. Lastly, if you need the subscription plan to auto-renew, there is a checkbox for that option.
After the plans are created, if you know you will need to invoice and accept payment for the subscription, a Subscription Invoice Template is needed. Go to Settings > Templates > Subscription Invoices. Click Add New Cart Invoice Template, and name the template. You have the option to start with a blank template and build it out or use the system provided Subscription Invoice Template and make changes to it as needed.
Next, consider if you want the ability to have subscribers subscribe on their own. You can set up and use the Web Form which can be used on your website. You will go to Settings > System Design & Info > Web Forms. Select Subscription Form By Publication from the drop-down. Then click Add Form. You will need to name your Webform, select a Default Invoice Template, select the associated Publication(s), and then if payment info is needed to process, please check the checkbox for the Accept Payment Info field.
Tip
For more information about webforms, please reference the Set up your Subscription by Publication Webform help center page.
Once you've reviewed the necessary setup, you can begin creating your subscriptions.
To create a new subscription, click on the plus icon at the top of the page. You should see a section for Distribution and an option for Add Subscription.
First, you should determine if the subscription is a gift or not.
If the subscription is a gift, you will see additional fields for the Gifter/Donor and Recipient.
Begin typing in the Gifter and Recipient fields to find an existing subscriber. If your subscriber doesn't already exist, you can use the plus icons by the 'Gifter' and 'Recipient' labels to create a brand new contact in the system.
Tip
This functionality is the same for non-gifted subscriptions. Begin typing in the Subscriber field to add a subscription for an existing contact, or use the plus icon to create a new subscriber.
The next field to review is the Status; pending is the default. If you need to perform some checks on the subscription you can use the pending status and later update it to approved, but this is also where you can list a subscription as deleted, canceled, suspended, or rejected.
The Paid/Comp field is used if you need to mark a subscription as comp and track them separately from your paid subscriptions. You can also put a reason for the comp being given.
Next, select the medium. Is this a print subscription or a digital subscription? Once the type is selected you can then select the needed publication name and plan. If you need to associate a promo code with the subscription there is a field for that. This is so you can run searches on the subscriptions and see the promo codes being used.
Note
You can't sell a print subscription to someone without a valid address. If the print type is grayed out, it means your subscriber does not have a address on file. Update the subscriber and then you can select the type print. Similarly, an email address is required for digital subscriptions.
Based on the selected plan, the system will calculate the start issue/date and end issue/date. You can use the drop-down to adjust this if needed.
Unit cost shows for a single subscription, but updating the copies field will show the subtotal and total cost update for the correct amount. Tax will be calculated based on subscriber location and added to the subscription cost.
You can put in the subscription source of where the subscription is coming from, we track those that come from the web form.
The Externally Invoiced field determines if the subscription should be invoiced within Ad Orbit or if it has been invoiced in another system.
The Shipped field is tied to the option of auto-processing payments. Digital subscriptions are always defaulted to shipped.
The Auto-Renew drop-down allows you to change from the plan default to either make the subscription auto-renew no matter what or it should not renew at all.
The Renewed From field is only applicable in certain cases. It will display a drop-down single select of all the valid subscriptions your new subscription could be renewed from. The drop-down will include any subscription that hasn't already been renewed for the subscriber and is tied to the same publication.
The qualified date is the ability to date a subscription with a qualifying check option if you need to make sure a subscription qualifies. Similar to the verified date in putting the verified date of the subscription. The last field on the first step of creating a subscription is the notes for any type of subscription notes.
Click Create Subscription at the bottom of the page once you've entered all of the required information. Once your subscription is created, you'll see some additional, optional steps to editing and configuring the subscription.
The second step of the subscription, Additional Info, allows for changing and scheduling address(s) changes. This is useful if a subscriber has a summer home, for instance. You can add the additional address(s) by using the plus icon next to the Shipping Addresses label. Then Add Schedule to set the date changes.
Select the desired address under the Shipping Addresses dropdown, and click the Add Schedule button to set a schedule for that address.
If you have any subscription dynamic attributes, then you'll see a third Dynamic Attributes edit page. Here, you can set any optional dynamic attributes for the subscription.
Updated 12/26/2024